The era of new media has marked significant shifts and changes in various spheres of life, including political systems. According to Margolis and Resnick, the Internet and other digital platforms have empowered the expression of will and influenced activism positively (159). Debates in the online environment often carry no less weight than in real life. Protests, petitions, and other elements of active political life take place on the Internet and have a full-fledged legitimate status. This, in turn, reminds me of the concept of political innocence proposed by Margolis and Resnick, and the fact of its loss in the virtual space is obvious (3). Therefore, new media may be considered the instruments of the political sphere, which have a function of platforms for expressing personal and group opinions and positions.
In terms of surveillance, security, and safety, the role of new media has also become significant. Lyon evaluates the impact of digital platforms from the perspective of consumer culture, and his behavioral approach is based on assessing an advanced and sustainable system for tracking people’s lifestyles (92). My observations prove that such an industry as marketing has become much more effective today due to contextual advertising as one of the tools for digital surveillance. There are also positive aspects, for instance, advanced mechanisms of security systems through the personal data of media users. At the same time, the expansion of these functions cannot be stopped, and the acceptance of constant external control is the only outcome of socialization.
News, as an integral part of public knowledge, is perceived differently due to new media compared to several decades ago. Speed, convenience, and targeting are the features that are inherent in modern news content. Moreover, the modern simplicity of broadcasting news content reminds me of such a genre as fan wikis, which are products of users themselves. For instance, the world-famous and widely popular TV series Game of Thrones has received numerous positive reviews, and fans of this show have developed their approaches to organizing facts about the plot and characters. Comerford notes that fan wikis are a distinct field of contemporary culture, and their educational news function cannot be underestimated given the detail of the content on offer (285). Thus, users of new media themselves can act as creators of news, and the consumption of these materials is natural and common today.
The perception of the world and self-identity have transformed significantly under the influence of new media. As Dvir-Gvirsman remarks, today, people can say much about one another due to specific cinematic, musical, or gaming preferences, which are shaped by modern digital platforms (1073). Among my friends, some prefer to rate a human by his or her profile on a social network as one of the main criteria. As a result, our actions, be they serious or insignificant, are often determined by trends dictated by media, and our world has become a place in which socialization means striving for similarity but not individuality.
Works Cited
Comerford, Chris. “Participatory Toolboxes: Franchise Fan Wikis as Tools of Textual Production.” Participations, vol. 15, no. 2, 2018, pp. 285-296.
Dvir-Gvirsman, Shira. “Media Audience Homophily: Partisan Websites, Audience Identity and Polarization Processes.” New Media & Society, vol. 19, no. 7, 2017, pp. 1072-1091.
Game of Thrones. Directed by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, HBO, 2011-2019.
Lyon, David. Surveillance Society: Monitoring Everyday Life. McGraw-Hill Education, 2001.
Margolis, Michael, and David Resnick. Politics as Usual: The Cyberspace “Revolution.” Sage Publications, 2000.